


Dragons and Demons

by the_song_you_gave_me



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: Female Friendship, Gen, Magic, Multi, Post-Canon, Tarot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-01 08:55:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12701565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_song_you_gave_me/pseuds/the_song_you_gave_me
Summary: This story starts soon after the movie left off before jumping a few years into the future where the plot picks up.There will be kissing (!) eventually, maybe a little bit of possession... and some death.National Novel Writing Month this November left me with 30,000 words and an itch to finish as much of this as I can crank out. Here's the few less-than-perfect chapters I have so far





	1. Return to the Spirit World - Guardian

**Author's Note:**

  * For [would_you_like_some_angst_with_that](https://archiveofourown.org/users/would_you_like_some_angst_with_that/gifts).



> I learned about Tarot cards entirely from a Salvador Dali museum book set and am utterly an amateur. If you know more about Tarot cards, I would love to know how to improve their use in this piece!

On the way to her second day at the new school, Chihiro almost walks past the girl sitting at an outdoor cafe table. An early fall breeze blows through the leaves of the trees, stirring the dappled sunlight that shines on the small tables and chairs. Wearing the same school uniform as Chihiro and swinging her legs underneath her chair, the girl plays with a set of beautifully painted cards. Her round brown eyes look up from the table and dark hair falls back into place under a red lace headband. Chihiro recognizes the girl from class.  
"Um, May I sit with you?"

"Of course. You're Ogino Chihiro-chan, right?" The girl smiles warmly as a greeting. Her eyes crinkle at the corners.

"Yes. I'm sorry, what's your name again?" Chihiro steps on to the patio. The girl turns the metal cafe chair to face her.

"It must be hard when there's so many new people to meet. You can call me Mari." She offers out her hand.

"Mari-chan?" Chihiro hesitantly asks, before shaking her hand.

"That's right." Mari's quick laugh shows all her teeth. Chihiro sits down across from her. On the table, each of the three cards shows a different colorful portrait of fantastic characters. "Those are beautiful cards." Chihiro murmurs, interested. "I've never seen a set like that before."

"Mm." Mari looks at them with a smile "They're called Tarot cards. My father got them for me." Mari's enthusiasm grows into an excited, hushed wonder. "They can be used for a western style of fortune-telling," she shares with Chihiro as if it were a secret. Mari picks up the cards and claps them back into a deck. "Do you want to try?" She looks up expectantly.

Chihiro does not look away from her eyes. "Sure." Mari's smile only grows. They have plenty of time before the first bell. Chihiro sits up straight and pulls a strand of hair behind her ear. The rest stays in its usual ponytail, safe in her glittering purple hair tie. 

Mari places the deck of cards between them on the table. Another soft breeze rustles through the leaves on the trees.

"You can shuffle the cards however you like." Mari pushes the set towards Chihiro. "It adds your energy to the deck." She explains, "I usually cut it into two parts at the end, and put the bottom half on the top." 

Chihiro picks up the cards from the center of the table. They feel big and clumsy in her hands.

Mari waits for her to finish. "We'll do a three-card-spread the first time." She continues. "You draw the cards one at a time. I'll tell you what each one means for your past, present, and future."

Chihiro nods and flips over the first card.

Surrounded by an intricate pattern of greens and white, a boy with a familiar haircut fills the center of the card.

"Woah." Mari casually observes. She places both hands on the tabletop and stands up to get a better look. "Your first card is the Magician. This card is for your past." She then recites, as if by memory, "It represents Personal magic. No one can take away your special talents and qualities. Use your imagination, creativity and communication skills to make your own distinctive contribution." 

"Are you sure it's referring to me?" Chihiro asks.

"Who else would it be referring to, silly?" Mari chuckles lightly. Chihiro draws two more cards, and Mari explains each one - reciting the meanings the same way she did the first. Chihiro still keeps her eyes on the first card though, facinated by that portrait.

Soon after that, they walk to school together. All day, they giggle and chat happily together, both of them glad to have a new friend. 

Chihiro wakes up just as early the next day so she can meet Mari at the cafe again. They wait in line inside to buy snacks and eat breakfast out on the patio together, chatting away. After eating, they still have a little extra time before needing to go to school. Mari gets her cards out from her bag. She shuffles them so easily; Chihiro watches in awe.

"Do you want to look at the cards again?" Mari asks

"Sure." Chihiro wonders if Mari does this every day. When Chihiro shuffles, the cards slip out of her fingers and fall out on to the table. She catches half of them quickly and sorts the rest of the cards back into a deck. She then cuts the deck, a little embarrased, and flips the first card.

The same colorful painting in its green-and-white frame greets her like a smile.

"The Magician again," Mari tilts her head. Her brows narrow in together. "Do you remember what it means?" She looks up openly at Chihiro.

"I'm not sure," Chihiro answers. She loses herself in the painted green eyes of the card as Mari repeats yesterday's line.

At the end of the week, on the fifth day of sharing breakfast together and playing with fortunes, Mari makes a face when Chihiro turns over her "Past" card again. Chihiro could almost recite its meaning as well as Mari by now.

"I've never seen a major arcane repeat like this before," Mari states. 

"Chihiro-chan," Mari tilts her head. She looks nervously away. "Have you ever heard of the spirit world?" Mari asks looking back at her, sidelong.

"You mean the one from the stories?" Chihiro sits resting her head on her folded arms with both elbows on the table. She still has her eyes on the boy in the card with that familiar, oddly green hair.

"No, I mean like it's a real place." Mari whispers slowly. 

"Hmm?" Chihiro flips her gaze up to meet her friend's expression. A soft breeze blows at the napkins on their cafe table. With widened eyes, Chihiro asks, "What makes you say that?"

"Don't laugh, okay?" Mari places both her hands on the table, and leans in close, still looking off and away occasionally, hesitant. "My gran tells stories... about the spirits and how they interact with the world." Mari looks Chihiro in the eye. "You don't have to believe in this stuff, okay?" 

"No, it's fine Mari. Go on," Chihiro encourages her. She wants to learn more about the spirits, and thinks she would gladly listen to Mari's gran tell tales all day.

"Sometimes, if I concentrate, I can see things from her stories." Mari looks worried and keeps her eyes on Chihiro as she says this. "They're the kind of things that make you believe spirits are real." 

"I believe you." Chihiro meets the nervousness held by Mari's expressive face. "I know spirits are real," She assures her new friend. Mari narrows her brows suddenly. "What do you mean?" She asks, suspicious.

"I- um..." Chihiro stutters.  
"Please, don't play with me on this, Chihiro. My gran is serious about this kind of thing!"  
"No, I believe you! I really do!" Chihiro protests, "My mother said I fell into a river when I was little, and I'm sure a river spirit saved me that day!" she quickly explains. Some part of Chihiro cannot believe she has to tell Mari this much to reassure her friend that she knows spirits are real.

"Okay." Mari breathes out, a little tense. "Don't tell anyone about this though, got that?" Anger flashes in her eyes as she gives Chihiro her warning. Then her cautious calm returns. "I'm letting only you know," she mumbles softly.

"I understand." Chihiro assures. She has things she did not want to tell others too, because they would not believe her. Maybe after this though, she could tell Mari about the three days she spent working at Yubaba's bathouse.

"I have to concentrate to see them." Mari looks down. "Is it okay if I try to see the spirits the same way my gran does, right now?"

"Yes, of course." Chihiro nods, open to anything.

"Okay." The air stills, and Mari's brown eyes shake a little as she focuses, looking straight ahead through Chihiro. Her friend's brows narrow together, then the girl's whole expression widens. Mari looks quickly away, breathing fast.

"Did you see anything?" Chihiro leans on the table. "Mari-chan, are you okay?"

Mari pants a little more then nods. "Chihiro-chan," she turns to face her friend, a squeak in her voice and a confused look in her eyes. "Have you been to the Spirit Realm?" Mari asks, quivering.

Chihiro's eyes widen further. Excitedly she asks, "What did you see?" 

"I- I don't know. It's… big. I think you have a guardian spirit." Mari sounds uneasy. She looks at the space behind Chihiro like she still wants to figure out if there was something there.

"Really?" Chihiro's voice rises so high it squeaks. "Mari-chan, tell me! What does the spirit look like?" She bubbles with hushed energy.

"I- I can't tell." Mari stutters. "It's blurry. Grandmother says my sight is still growing in power. I'm sorry, but I can't tell what's behind you. I just know it's something big."

Chihiro exhales and begins to take in Mari's trembling expression. Mari wrings her hands back and forth on top of the table. Chihiro sees her friend looks frightened, and realizes she does not want her to be afraid.

"It's okay, Mari-chan. Don't worry." Chihiro slowly smiles for her. She steps away from her chair and walks around the table to put a gentle hand around Mari's shoulder.

"I'm glad you shared that you could see something at all." She looks back over her shoulder, just in case, wondering what could be there.

(<>)

Three years later in middle school, Mari's Tarot card readings are popular with the girls in class. Even when she comes in with a cold, they still hassle her to have their fortunes told.

An overly energetic girl with a bobbed haircut floats in the doorway. She pokes her head out of the classroom and eagerly asks, "Reyes-san, did you bring your book?"

"Hold on, let me get it out." Mari walks past her into the class holding a sanitation mask to her nose.

"Stop it, Mayuri-san! Can't you see she's sick?" A classmate chides from a spot right beside Mari's desk. Another girl waits next to her, leaning back on her heels, a snickering expression on her face. "You know Ogino-chan gets the first reading anyway," she reminds Mayuri.

Mari walks to her desk located in front of Chihiro's with Mayuri-san pattering along after her. Mari sets down her bag, "Morning," she greets Chihiro, already seated, and begins to rustles through her bag. She pulls out a leather-bound book written in Spanish and filled with Tarot card interpretations. The girls hover in closer to Mari and Chihiro's desks, uncaring about Mari's heavy coughing this week. Mari-chan pulls out the awaited cards, exquistly painted and larger than any playing cards the girls had ever seen. She sets them down in front of Chihiro.

Like every morning, Chihiro takes the cards and begins to shuffle.

She keeps her eyes on Mari's unfocused daze. Chihiro does not even look down at her Past card. For two years straight, the card that look so much like the boy she met in the Spirit Realm showed up on her first draw every single day. This morning, however, every girl around her gasps. Chihiro narrows her brows in confusion. Most of her classmates should no longer react to the Magician card coming up first every time. They all witnessed the odd trick day after day. Chihiro looks down at the card she drew. On her desk, instead of the Magician, a hooded figure waits.

"Mu-er-te?" Chihiro reads the roman letters aloud. Mari blinks back to a foggy attentiveness. Chihiro looks up sharply. "Mari, what is Muerte doing here?"

"It's Death." Mari says simply, "You drew the Death card," as though the fact has a question to it.

Chihiro draws in a breath. "Mari, what does it mean?" She does not need the interpretation. She has heard Mari translate the interpretations from her book so many times, Chihiro practically has them memorized herself. The panic rising in her worries more about what the card could mean now- after three years of drawing the Magician first instead. Three years of Haku's likeness greeting her every morning, and now instead, there is death.

"It's not necessarily a bad card." Mari's brows draw together over her round, bleary eyes. She tilts her head. "Chihiro, come on. You know that."

Maybe it could mean something else. Chihiro slows her breath, still blinking furiously in disbelief at her card. Mari's voice spins a spell of calm in the background, "Attend to what needs to be done at the right moment. What is missing; what no longer fits? How can you strive toward fulfillment? Alternate meanings include new life, cleansing, feeling threatened by violence, the destroyer of illusions …"

The onlookers whisper among themselves. "How is it anything but the Magician?" Mayuri asks.

Trembling, Chihiro reaches for her second card.

For the Present, the Magician greets her like a smile. Chihiro hears others share her sigh of relief.

Mari rolls her eyes. Chihiro reaches for her third card without waiting for an interpretation.

"The Devil." Mari tilts her head at Chihiro's Future card for this morning. "It could represent a taboo violated, or that which was implicit is now visible. The hidden will take on shape and color Dare to face the unknown." Mari thumbs through her book for the rest while Chihiro turns to look out the window, embarrassed about her earlier panic. "Shed light on your vampires…" Mari's voice weaves, "Decide how much you can use, and what to discard." 

Outside, gray clouds roll by. Thick and fast, they cover the sky.

"Mari, Does it feel like something's coming?" Chihiro asks. 

Mari does not really respond. Her nose all stuffed up and their classmates pushing closer for their daily read takes all her concentration away. 

(<>)

The rain starts to pour in the afternoon. After school, Chihiro waits under the bus stop overhang with Mari, who shivers in her yellow raincoat. Cars splash by on the road and a cold spring wind tugs at the schoolgirls' hair. Mari presses her facemask into her nose. 

"Mari, are you sure you're okay?" Chihiro asks, looking at her friend with a worried glance.

Mari listlessly stares at the gray blocky buildings across the street. "I plan to sleep all weekend." Her voice scratches out from her throat.

"You know, maybe you shouldn't come to school for Saturday classes." Chihiro tentatively suggests.

"We have a test." Mari states matter-of-factly. That settles the matter. Chihiro knows she will see Mari in class tomorrow. There would not be any pressing the matter.

Chihiro turns her head up to the drizzling clouds. A silver ribbon streams through the sky. She keeps her voice soft, still doubting what she sees there. "Mari, look!"

"Whatever you say, Chihiro, I'm still going to show up at school." Mari sighs.

"No, I don't mean that." Chihiro cuts her off. "Look up there." The silver ribbon flashes through the rain clouds again.

Mari glances upward, before rolling her eyes away. She raises her mask up to blow her nose instead. "It's no use. I can't see anything." She snuffles

"It can't be," Chihiro whispers. Under her breath, she voices his name as though calling him to her, "Kohaku?"

Chihiro leans in closer to her shivering friend. "Mari, can I have one of your cough drops?" She asks.

"Sure." Mari sniffs and digs a hand into her pocket. Just then, a gust of wind blows.

Chihiro rises to her toes in a frightful, sudden surprise as a dragon crashes into the alleyway across the street.

Chihiro grabs the cough drop out of Mari's hand and runs out across the road. "Thanks!" she calls out with an urgent note in her voice. She waves back from behind the other side of another car splashing by. Mari, frozen, watches her friend in flabbergasted shock.

"Chihiro!" she cries. The wind blows Mari’ scratchy voice away into virtual silence.

On the other side of the road, Chihiro hops the curb and lands with gusto, sliding a bit in the gravel on the cracked sidewalk. Her wide eyes focus on the dragon thrashing in coils before her. She recognizes him right away. Bluish white scales shimmer in the gray light of the falling rain. His green eyes flash at her; the stress reflected by those constricting pupils melts away a little once he can focus on her. He barely voices a growl. She steps softly toward him.

"Nigihayami Kohakunushi-" Chihiro whispers his name in a concerned tone.

He struggles to lift himself off the ground enough to be able to stand but soon gives up. The dragon crashes back onto the sidewalk, his expression bracing against the pain. Two long, white whiskers float slowly down to lie in the wet, muddy cement. 

Chihiro crosses the rest of the distance between them and takes him into a hug. She nuzzles the sodden fur between his eyes with her nose. The dragon opens sad green eyes to look her way again. He fades away in a cloud of blue and white scales to trade his serpentine form for a human shape. "Kohaku!" she cries. 

He wears a similar white and blue traditional outfit to the one she saw him in before, only this time his clothes are tattered and covered in grime. 

"Chihiro," he breathes out, "I made it..." He can barely speak. Chihiro notices his hands fading from existence as he tries to reach out to her. Quickly, she unwraps Mari's cough drop. "Here, eat this." She offers it to him.

He swallows, and behind her, she hears Mari gasp.

Her friend covers her facemask with both hands in shock. Mari's eyes stare wildly at the boy before her. His hair still matches the haircut of the Magician's portrait in Mari's deck of Tarot cards. Kohaku’s eyes scrunch shut in pain.

"Chihiro, there's a clinic just around the corner." Mari reminds her while shivering in the cold.

“We’ll get you somewhere safe, don’t worry.” Chihiro rubs his back. She looks at Kohaku again, just in time to see his eyes close shut in exhaustion. Chihiro hears him exhale as his form falls limp. He looks thinner and paler than she remembers. "Right." She says determinedly. "Mari, will you help me get him there?"

"I can try." Mari moves in closer to Chihiro's side.

Together, they lift his shoulders high enough so that each girl can get under one of his arms. They prop him up, and try to to drag his feet on the sidewalk as they slowly trudge out of the alleyway. Somehow, they get to the corner of the street, and wait for the pedestrian light to turn green. Kohaku's toes scrape agaist the asphalt of the road as they scramble to carry him over the crosswalk. Panting, and blinded by the rainwater dripping into her eyes, Chihiro struggles with Mari to carry him the rest of the way, diligently. 

Half a block later, Chihiro uses her shoulder to open the door and backs into the clinic. A desk sits in the corner of the front waiting area to a quiet, gray office. An elderly doctor scrambles up from his chair behind the desk to shuffle over and take the boy's deadweight from the girls' tired arms. 

The two friends look at each other, both drenched from the rain and worn out. Mari breaks out into another bout of coughing fits. 

"Here, Here- let me get you some dry towels." The doctor carries Kohaku down a short hallway to an exam room in the back. He sets Kohaku down on the steel examination table and picks up a few towels for each of the girls from one of the wire rack shelves. 

Mari continues to cough into her elbow. "I hope you can take care of that," the doctor eyes her kindly as he hands her a towel. "Carrying that boy in this weather probably didn't help any." He offers her a smile.

Mari smiles politely and takes the towel to dry herself off. Chihiro does the same, soon after.

"Chihiro," Mari rasps through her sore throat. "I don't want to miss the next bus. I'm going home."

"Mm- of course. Thanks Mari-chan! I’ll call my parents soon to come pick me up.”

Mari flips her now sodden rain jacket hood over her wet hair, “Thank you, Sensei.” She hands back a now wet towel and gives a slight bow to the elderly doctor. Then, Mari turns around and heads back out into the storm.

“See you tomorrow- I'll owe you one!" Chihiro waves to see her off.

The door to the clinic closes shut again with the tinkling of a bell. “Now then,” The doctor speaks with a slow, patient voice that could wait for molasses in January to thaw. “What can you tell me about the young boy in there?”

Chihiro looks at the doctor’s soft, blinking eyes through the frames of his thin glasses. “We just found him, sir.” She informs him. “I don’t know what happened to him. He was awake just a little while ago, though.”

“Is he a friend of yours?” the old man asks.

“He is, sir.” She answers, “but it’s been a while since we’ve met.”

The doctor tilts his head attentively. “How long has it been since you last saw him?” 

“Three years, sir.”

The doctor nods and shuffles back to the exam room to busy himself over Kohaku. He takes his pulse and temperature, then dries him off, lays down blankets, and more. Chihiro stays in the clinic waiting room, peeking around the corner at first, then looking around the front room to stay out of the doctor’s way. There are simple health posters on the walls- for choking and CPR, as well as symptoms for the flu. Chihiro reads through the last one before deciding to open up her cell phone.

She calls her mom first to tell her where she is and ask if she can get a ride home. Her mother tells her to call her father to pick her up. Chihiro sighs after she hangs up, and dials again to call her dad. Then she wanders down the hall to join the doctor in the other room and see Kohaku.

Kohaku sleeps soundly under the thin blankets draped over him on the solid metal examination table. The doctor glances in Chihiro’s direction when she walks in, then returns his gaze to check on the boy before continuing to pile up the used, dirty towels that need changing out. Chihiro backs toward a wall with a couple plastic chairs and sits down. She watches the doctor take his basket of towels into the little hallway, turning toward the laundry room in the back instead of the front office. 

While she can hear the clanks and clicks of the machine and different cupboards opening, Chihiro turns her attention back to the boy on the table. She listens to the gentle rush of Kohaku’s breath, paced like the waves washing over a beach on a clear summer day. The longer she looks at his unhealthy pallor and sharp edges, the more she realizes how much he looks the same as the last time she saw him. He does not look as though he has aged a day. 

She puffs out her cheeks and crosses her arms against the chill of the clinic’s heavy air filtration system. How could life be so unfair, that she grew taller and lankier with zits and- and body hair to deal with while her dragon stayed perfect just the way he was? Did he ever grow older? She wonders.

The doctor comes back from his laundry room with another blanket on top of a pile of fresh, clean towels. He offers Chihiro the pink, worn blanket off the top of the stack. She takes it gladly, still a little damp from her and Mari’s trek through the rain out on the street. She curls up in its thin wool to stay warm. The doctor hums a little tune as he restocks his shelves from the rest of the stack. 

“Your friend is stable.” The doctor lets her know somewhere along in the process of tidying his supplies. “There’s not much to do now except wait for him to wake up.” 

Chihiro raises her heels and flips her toes over to on-pointe, balancing them on the tile from her seat. “My father’s already on his way to pick me up from here.” She tells the kindly doctor. “He’ll be a while yet, though.” She glances over to Kohaku again and stares at the traditional collar of his tattered uniform peeking out from under the pile of blankets.

“There’s a market next door, right?” Chihiro asks the old doctor. 

“Yes- a good one.” He looks up from disinfecting his countertops to meet Chihiro’s eyes.

“Does it sell clothes, too?” she asks.

The old doctor looks at the mirrors running along the top of his walls. “If I remember correctly…” he ponders for a few seconds, “It may have a few things.”

“Thank you!” Chihiro pops up from her chair, holding tight to the straps of her school bag. The blanket falls off her shoulders and crumples into a heap on the plastic seat. “I’m going to go look for a little bit,” She stumbles over to the little hallway toward the front door. “If he wakes up, or if my father comes early- will you please tell them I’ll be right back.” 

The doctor smiles slowly in a befuddled sort of surprise. “Yes, yes of course.” He turns back to his task. Chihiro barely waited for him to finish his response. She tugs the hood of her raincoat back over her ponytail and patters out the clinic door. The rain falls in a slight drizzle now. Puddles while away down the drains. The neon lights of the supermarket next door blear into the dreary grayness of the clouds overhead.

A wave of heat greets her inside the automatic sliding glass doors. White florescent aisles erase any hint of darkness from outside. Chihiro’s shoes squeak along as she hunts for the section with discount clothes. She avoids the crowd of townspeople squabbling past each other to get at the vegetables for today’s special sale. In the back, shelves of plain, cheap cotton clothes sit right by the washcloths and bedsheets. Chihiro thumbs through the sizes, completely guessing at how big the clothes would have to be. She settles on the least tacky pair of drawstring sweatpants that match her height and a plain, oversized t-shirt. Together, the clothes looked like pajamas. She could afford them, though.

On the way to the register she walks by the convenience refrigerator. Pre-wrapped packages of onigiri call out to her from their lower shelf. She picks one out and pays the clerk. At the front of the store, rain pours down in torrents. Dreading the cold that awaits her back at the clinic, she prepares her feet to get soaked once again. Chihiro unzips her coat and tucks the new clothes close to her body. She tugs the zipper back up as high as it will go and then, hugging her middle she runs out into the rain. Big drops pelt her face as she works to keep from slipping on the slick cement, honing in on the little door to the clinic right nearby.

Panting, she stamps her feet on the welcome mat, the little jingle of the bell greeting her as she shuts the wind and the wet outside. The elderly doctor is back at his desk, clicking away at his computer. He looks up and the corners of his eyes crinkle into a smile behind his thin, golden frames. “Welcome back.” He says with warmth.

Chihiro unzips her sodden coat and looks for a hook near the entryway so that she won’t drip all over his office. “Pardon the intrusion.” She annunciates softly, placing her purchase on a chair while she hangs up her coat and pulls off her shoes and socks. The doctor placed another towel out by the door while she was gone. She gladly makes use of it.

“No problem at all,” the old man chuckles, continuing to work his mouse. They share an amicable silence. Chihiro pads off down the hall, placing the wet towel in the washing machine with the others. She fetches the clothes and the onigiri she bought, then heads back to the examination room after that. Kohaku has not moved from where he sleeps. Chihiro sighs. She sets the clothes and onigiri down on one of the chairs by the wall and retrieves the worn, woolen blanket she left behind earlier. 

Wrapping herself tight, she picks up the other plastic chair and lugs it to the middle of the room, right by the steel-topped table. Still shivering from the cold and wet, Chihiro feels the warmth coming off of Kohaku’s body. Freeing one of her hands, she notices how his hair has almost dried from being out in the rain before. Her fingers hover over his bangs, but she draws them away. Sitting down, she rests her head on the pile of blankets that covers the whole table. She closes her eyes and wishes that Kohaku will wake soon. She misses him, even though he lies so close next to her.

 

<><><>


	2. Return to the Spirit World - One Plan then Another

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kohaku's asleep in a clinic. Chihiro waits near him- but what will her parents say? 
> 
> (Also, I'll be honest, this is more like... half a chapter.)

She does not know how much time passes before the doctor comes in to check on them. “Did you buy this for him, too?” He asks, pointing to the onigiri on top of the clothes.

She opens her eyes, looks over her shoulder, and nods. 

“We could put it in my fridge, so it’ll keep.” he offers. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he gets it.” The old doctor smiles with a wink. “You picked a flavor I don’t like.” Chihiro smirks and tries not to laugh.

The tinkling of a bell announces the clinic door opening again.  
“Hello? Chihiro?” Her father’s voice comes in, sounding worried.

“Welcome, sir.” The doctor turns to the front office. “We’re in here. Come on in; you can dry yourself off.”

Her father enters the exam room in half a run. He makes a face, suddenly surprised. "What's this?" He asks, stepping in to the room. “Oh thank god, Chihiro. I thought all this time it was you or Mari who’d gotten hurt. Are you okay?” 

Chihiro raises her head and swings back around so her dad can see. “Mm- ” she nods, “Mari went home earlier.”

“Who’s this?” Her dad looks down at the long-haired boy asleep on the table.

"Nigihayami- he’s a boy from the town we used to live in." Chihiro changes her words, remembering that her father might recognize the rest of Kohaku’s name.

"Why is he in traditional clothing?" Her father finds it strange.

"Um, after he moved away, I think he got a job in a bath house.” Chihiro looks over to the doctor with his elderly, patient expression. He gives her confidence to keep talking to her dad, “It might be his uniform?” She adds.  
"You never told me you met a boy." Her father’s eyebrows raise.

"Dad! He moved away before we did.” She stands up suddenly. Then, she steps closer to her father, tugging at the arm where his fist firmly rests on his hip. “We can take him in, right?" she begs.

Her father looks sidelong from her back to the boy, then over to the old doctor. "Mmm… I don’t know. It's better if we contact his family first." He suggests instead.

Chihiro blinks, caught unaware. Surprised, she looks down at her shirt then back to Kohaku. "I don't know about his family." She admits aloud. She does not even know if he had one.

Her father scratches his beard. He follows his daughter’s gaze, looking back at the examination table and the boy lying there. 

"He's sleeping pretty deeply.” Her father mutters, more to himself then to anyone else. He raises his eyes to the old man, kindly overseeing the whole scene. “Is he okay, doctor?" Chihiro’s father asks.

"I can watch him in the clinic overnight.” The doctor offers. “If he wakes by next morning, I can ask him about his parents then." His voice holds all the calm of a rote spoken and acted upon many times before.

"Yes. That sounds best, Chihiro.” Her father nods down to her. “We wouldn't want to move him. Doctor, I'd be happy to pay for his stay if that's convenient.” Her father takes out a business card from his wallet and hands it to the older man. “Please, let us know when he wakes."

“Of course,” the doctor returns her father’s slight bow, taking the card.

“Chihiro, is that all right? Your mother’s waiting for us at home by now.”

Chihiro keeps herself from pouting, although she finds it hard to keep her anger from showing on her face. “Wait, please.” She adds quickly, to be more polite. 

She tups back over to the chair by the wall a bit upset. She opens up her school bag and takes a sheet of paper from one of the folders, scribbling on it as fast as she can with a purple sparkly pen that always hides in one of the top pockets. She leaves Haku a note on top of the clothes she bought him, along with her extra hair tie from the time they met at Yubaba’s bathhouse. 

“Alright, we can go.” She closes her bag and takes it with her back to her father’s side. “Thank you, Sensei, for everything. Please take good care of my friend.”

<>

Chihiro looks out the bus window as it makes the turn down the hill leaving her neighborhood the next morning. Outside, the leaves of all the plants shine with an unsettling, eerie greenness from all the rain yesterday. Chihiro plans to stop by the clinic on her way to school before her mother sends her a text. She flips open the screen while the bus bounces along. 

The clinic called. Your friend woke up but he’s back asleep now. Your father can pick you up after lunch.

She shuts the phone with a sigh, looking out to the road again. At her bus stop, hops down the steps, and turns toward school decidedly, leaving the street to the clinic behind. If Kohaku needed to rest, she figures, she should let him rest. 

Mari dashes into the classroom just before the late bell. Her cold mask firmly in place over one of her lace headbands, she collapses into her desk in front of Chihiro. They wait until break to catch up, shooing the usual crowd of girls away by telling them Mari would delay her card readings until later. Mari then passes the deck to Chihiro from her bag hiding under the table.

Chihiro shuffles under her desk as sneakily as she can, trying not to draw attention to herself. Mari asks her quietly about the boy from yesterday.

“Who was he then?” The cold mask muffles her friend’s voice.

Chihiro answers in a soft whisper, "He's a magician I met in the spirit world."

“That old story?” Mari turns her head suddenly, meeting Chihiro’s eyes with her own surprise. “Chihiro, you can’t be serious.” Mari’s voice drops. 

Under the table, Chihiro flips over the same three cards from yesterday. Death. The Magician. The Devil. Mari tilts to the side so she can see the faces of the cards too. With a noisy exhale from her nose, she looks back up and off to the side over the heads of their nearby classmates. “So, is he a spirit?” Mari asks in a gentler tone.

Chihiro nods, "Didn't you see him?" 

Mari shakes her head, breathing in at length. "I didn't know you meant to "look" that way." She answers, all snuffly.

Mari takes the cards back from Chihiro and hides them back in her bag under Chihiro’s desk. Her brows knit together as she stuffs the deck deeper into her bag. "How did he even come here?" Mari asks Chihiro.

"I don't know.” Chihiro looks down at the table, equally confused. Mari swings her head back around to the front of the class, where their next teacher walks in toward the desk. Quickly, Chihiro leans forward to sneak the last words into Mari’s ear. “I'll try to ask him this afternoon, but my dad will be with us."

Mari’s setting out mechanical pencils from her bag to be ready for the test. She mutters as she works, "To take human form… he must be powerful. Be careful, Chihiro." Mari looks back over her shoulder, meeting Chihiro with a warning in her round, brown eyes.

"I've seen his power, but he won't hurt me.” Chihiro whispers back, shaking her head. “He saved my life twice." 

She ducks down to pull out her own supplies for the quiz. When Chihiro looks up, Mari has not turned around yet. She still makes a worried face under her mask. The papers for the test go out, then, and both girls hush to focus on the task at hand. 

<>

As soon as lunch lets out, Chihiro packs all her stuff and races to the front doors of the school with barely a word to Mari. She texts her father to meet her at the clinic when she does not see his car already waiting at the gate. Then she runs all the way to the bus stop, turns the corner and stops right before the little, unassuming door. Pushing it open, she hears the jingle of a now familiar bell.

"Excuse me?" Chihiro speaks softly when she enters. The front office lies empty. She steps slowly down the short hallway. Inside the exam room, awake and sitting on the steel tabletop, Kohaku wears the shirt and sweats she got him with his hair tied back. He looks to her with those bright green eyes of his.

"Kohaku!" she exclaims and runs toward him. Joy floods her voice and her heart.

"Chihiro," Kohaku says with a smile. He slips off the table and stands to greet her. The doctor hurriedly rises beside him, with his hands held out to support him. Kohaku stumbles a bit before meeting Chihiro's embrace. He looks paler than she remembered.

"You're actually here." She touches his forehead with her own. He's a bit warm, but not overly so. Her own happiness rushes into to her head. 

"Is Kohaku okay?" She asks, turning to the elderly doctor before she forgets. She holds on to both Kohaku’s arms, even when they pull apart from her hug.

"It's nothing more food and some rest won't fix." The doctor answers genially from the side.

"Oh," Haku moves back to meet Chihiro's eyes. "Thank you Chihiro, for the onigiri." He smiles, "And the clothes."

"You kept him from having to change into my spare scrubs." The doctor laughs. "As for sandals, I think I have a pair I can give you somewhere." He pats Kohaku on the shoulder then walks to a closet in the back of the exam room.

"Kohaku didn't have shoes?" Chihiro asks, following the old man with her eyes. 

"They're a bit ruined." Kohaku admits. Chihiro hadn't noticed the day before.

As the doctor pilfers around his storage closet for the sandals, Chihiro turns all her attention to Kohaku. She whispers, "What happened? How are you here?"

Haku's face turns serious, "When I left Yubaba's for my own world, there was already trouble.” His eyes darken at the edges, “I couldn't stay there, so I worked to find a way to come to you."

Chihiro praises, "Haku's amazing. What kind of trouble?" She asks, worried.

"It's enough now to say that it would have followed me to Yubaba's if I went there.” Kohaku’s gaze returns to her. “They can't come to the human world though. It's safe.” He meets her eyes reassuringly, making a blush rise to her cheeks.

"Ahh, found them!" a voice comes from the corner closet.

"Will you tell me more, later?" Chihiro asks, glancing at the doctor moving out from the storage boxes.

"Mm." Kohaku nods resolutely as the bell rings from the clinic door opening.

"Here, see if those will work." The doctor passes Kohaku a pair of flip-flops as he shuffles toward the front office.

"Chihiro?" Her father's voice sounds from the entryway.

Kohaku sits back on the examination table, away from Chihiro's hold. He reaches around for the sandals the doctor offered, picking up a pair of neon green flip-flops. He then turns them upside-down.

"I'm here, Dad." She answers over her shoulder, mesmerized by Kohaku's examination of the foam sandals.

Her father turns the corner from the hallway, already eyeing the boy suspiciously. He seems even more uncertain of what to make of him, now that the patient is conscious. The kindly old doctor follows in behind.

“Ogino-san, I believe I talked with your wife on the phone.” The old man introduces, “I’m not sure how much she shared of what was said, but our young Nigihayami-kun here was quite forthcoming.”

Chihiro looks between the doctor to Kohaku who now has a calm, stern expression like the glass surface of a lake.

Chihiro’s dad rocks back on his heels. “I hear you worked in a traditional bathhouse.” He attempts to make casual conversation. “So, are you from that tourist town up north from here? That’s a long way to travel on your own to down here." Chihiro's father comments, rubbing his hand over his thin moustache.

Kohaku nods, "Yes sir, it's a very long distance from where I worked.” The young magician picks up his cover story by weaving the truth into her father’s assumptions. “I'm sorry to trouble you all, but I had to leave where I was in a bit of a hurry."

"And you plan to attend school here, right?" Chihiro's dad is less conversational now.

Chihiro perks her ears up at her father’s words, suddenly excited. “Really?” She turns to the boy and grabs his hands quickly. “Kohaku, I’m in class 8-B. Try to end up there, okay?" 

“Eh?” Her father makes a noise at her sudden closeness. Kohaku merely blinks in return, keeping his response neutral.

The doctor steps in from the side and tells her father, "The government house will take care of his paperwork for school. You won’t have to worry over that.” He waves a casual hand, brushing the topic away, “Now, I believe I had an address and a map for you somewhere around here…” The old man shuffles back out to the front office.

"What government house?" Chihiro asks, turning to the adults.

"They give shelter to minors, along with warm meals and such.” The doctor calls from the other room. “Here, you’ll need this too.” He comes in handing a couple sheets of paper to Chihiro’s father. The old man then directs kind words to Kohaku while answering Chihiro, “We've already discussed this. Nigihayami-kun can stay there while the service workers look in to his situation. Meanwhile, he can choose to go back to school."

Kohaku nods in agreement, as though everything was long since settled. Chihiro realizes then that the adults think of him as though he were a regular human boy.

"Why- why can't he just stay with us?" Chihiro asks angrily.

"Chihiro-san, I wouldn't want to burden your parents." Kohaku adds the honorific without making it sound like an afterthought. He meets her pleading look with a decided resolution. Chihiro calms down, a little disheartened. She feels bad that they would treat him like this, sending him away to some stranger’s place.

The doctor continues cordially, "I called the house earlier this morning, so they'll have things ready over there. Thank you for offering to drive him, Ogino-san."

“Right, of course. It’s the least we could do,” her father nods to the doctor. He then looks over at the two by the examination table. “Alright then, do you have everything?” he asks.

“Yes.” Chihiro voices, half-heartedly. Kohaku pushes himself off the table, a little steadier this time, and reaches for a shopping bag sitting on one of the countertops. Inside the bag are his tattered clothes from yesterday.

He turns and bows to the doctor, “Thank you again, sir.” 

“Not a problem. You take it slow and easy now, and you’ll be just fine, you hear?” The old man smiles once more. “He may need help walking, so just keep an eye on him for a while, Ogino-san.”

“We can do that.” Her father answers.

Chihiro thanks the old doctor one last time for all his help, waving from the front door of the clinic. Then the two follow Chihiro's dad to the Audi. They climb silently into the back seat, Haku behind her father.

"Ah, we can stop for lunch and go shopping on our way." Chihiro's dad offers, as he gets into the car. "That will give you a bit more to start off with."

"Thank you." Haku responds. Even with perfect courtesies, his manner reminds Chihiro of how he was at the bathhouse under Yubaba. He steels his eyes and looks out the window, turning away from her. Chihiro fights to keep the tears from her eyes. She wills herself not to cry.

<><><>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So- just to be clear, I did absolutely zero research while writing this story. It is in no way intended to resemble real life situations. Okay - Lots of love, y'all.


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